


Magic in Our Bones

by Yotsubadancesintherain5



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: One Shot, Other, Short & Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-21
Updated: 2020-01-21
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:01:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22345285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yotsubadancesintherain5/pseuds/Yotsubadancesintherain5
Summary: Sadie and Shep talk about what transpired on the beach.
Relationships: Sadie Miller/Shep
Comments: 10
Kudos: 40





	Magic in Our Bones

The van bustled slightly over the bumpy road. If the mood wasn’t so somber Sadie would’ve done her usual routine of fake-growling, “Fix the roads!” until Shep laughed so hard they had to pull over for a couple seconds.

But the only voices were a duet from the radio, something nostalgic and playful. It was the sort of music that was perfect to listen to while staring out at the dusky sky. At least that was what Shep had said when they loaded in the CD earlier in the day, when everything was happier and more cheerful.

The music was the antithesis to Sadie’s thoughts. She was coming to the uncomfortable realization that Steven had been trying to fix her problems, fix everyone’s problems, from a young age. But she wasn’t the one to figure out what was wrong, when everyone was on the beach.

“Shep,” she asked, “How did you know how Steven was feeling?”

They stole a glance at Sadie and their eyes went back to the road.

“It was kinda like a regular graduation, I guess,” Shep said. “I remembered high school graduation. I was happy, but it felt like I was losing all my friends at once.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s cool,” Shep said. “We all kept in touch. I made new friends. It’s probably harder when those friends go into space, huh?”

“Yeah.”

Shep sighed, and one of their hands touched their forehead.

“Being a teenager is _so_ difficult.”

Sadie hummed in agreement.

It seemed like being a teenager was an endless fog of hurt and stress, never feeling good enough for anything, and people with more life experience saying better things were on the horizon.

It was hard to see that horizon when it was so stormy.

“Some kids drown themselves in art,” Shep said after a moment of silence. “Some in studded clothes and spiked earrings. Most in music of all kinds. But some go around putting out fires because putting out their own fire, even acknowledging it, is too painful.”

At the last words Sadie’s stomach lurched. She thought of Steven running around, carrying troubles that were too enormous for his back.

“I’ll call him when we get to our next rest stop,” Sadie said.

The van came to a stoplight. Shep took that moment to press a kiss to Sadie’s cheek.

Sadie pressed her fingertips to the spot and smiled. The horizon could still be stormy. Sometimes, like now, sunlight shone in.


End file.
